At Central Illinois Bridge Academy, the school looks a little different. Students are greeted upon entry to the small space located within the Lifelong Access building in Normal. Phones are taken upon arrival to mitigate distractions and minimize opportunities for adverse mental health impacts.
Students themselves range in age, coming from grades 6 through 12.
That's all because Bridge caters to youth with serious mental health conditions via referral from public schools in DeWitt, Logan, Livingston and McLean counties. Bridge is their second chance at school, and sometimes, life.
“This program is simply put: saving lives,” said Lexington schools Superintendent Paul Deters. “It's saving some of the lives of our students that are struggling with anxiety or depression or suicidal ideation. It's giving them an opportunity to tap into resources here — folks who are specifically trained to work with students that are struggling in those areas, to give them the assistance they need, to give them the love that they need, to give them an opportunity to be themselves.”
Bridge past to present
Bridge opened its doors in 2022, funded partially through help from startup grants through the county and United Way of McLean County. Both organizations were invited to Bridge on Tuesday for an open house when students had the day off. The county’s contribution came from a shared sales tax fund and intergovernmental agreement between itself, the Town of Normal and the City of Bloomington.
Both contributions will end this year, but Bridge Academy Director Trisha Malott said the school is ready to flourish on its own — and is eyeing expansion. It already grew in Fall 2023 when the school started accepting 6th graders, and Malott said they’d like to add another teacher to their current roster so they can start accepting even more students next year.
In the future, Malott added that Bridge may start accepting 5th graders if the districts ask for it.
“Bridge started in response to needs identified by superintendents and social service agencies.,” she said. “That’s just sort of how the REO largely functions. We listen to our districts and to what the needs are and respond and provide as we can.”
Thus far, Bridge has helped 52 total students. Malott said 27 are currently enrolled, and four referrals are being considered. She also expects more referrals to happen in the coming months based on last year’s trends.
A milestone at Bridge
This year marks a milestone for the school as it sends off its first full graduating class. Last year, one senior graduated while at Bridge, but they had only been in the school for a short time. Malott said many of the four students expected to receive diplomas this year have been with Bridge for over a year.
Malott said they will still get to walk with their respective schools and graduating classes if they so choose. They also won’t be excluded from other graduate events.
“The end of their academic time is just with us,” Malott explained.
Meanwhile, the soon-to-be graduates are thinking about jobs or college and what comes next for them, which Malott said is a feat since “some of them didn't see that they would ever graduate, or that they would still be alive to graduate high school.”
Bridge lets them consider all this.
Classes at Bridge
Unlike other schools, Bridge offers small classes and in-school mental health treatment. Case managers and therapists are on-site, and available every day for students.
“The students come in, and we have a homeroom time, but really, that time is for them to settle in, check in with anybody they may need to — so their case manager or the therapists — and then we then dive into our academics,” said Jennifer Carey, one of the Bridge teachers.
Carey previously taught in public schools, though she’s been with Bridge since it opened. She said Bridge also differs from other educational settings in small ways, like schoolwork, which is more project-based. Her classroom is even more unique. There’s a class turtle named Jay and a tortoise named Flash.
Flash, she said, can even provide emotional support.
“He will get out and walk around the room, and the kids love it,” she said. “They like will lay on the floor with him and hang out with him. He also has been known to go and sit by students that are struggling.”
And every student at Bridge gets to benefit from Flash since teachers are interacting with every grade level at the school — from 6th grade to 12th.
Michael Turner currently teaches consumer education to older students and math to younger students at Bridge. While he doesn’t have animals roaming around his classroom, he brings his flare. A self-identified “huge nerd” and Dungeons and Dragons fan, Turner has shelves in his classroom with board games and role-playing games.
“It is something that I have used in an educational setting, to build interpersonal relationships between the students, between me and the students, helping kids with decision making, working together as a team, problem-solving,” Turner said. “And also, a lot of my games that I do have are selected in order to promote teamwork, as well as social interaction.”
The games are also a good way to make school entertaining.
“I try to have as much fun as I can, while also providing the education that they (the students) need,” Turner said.
Bridge also has a sensory room for students to use at any point in the day when they need a break. There's a hammock — that Malott says is quite popular — other comfy seating, mood lights, and even a trampoline. Students also have access to fidget and compression tools in the classroom.
Carey said these types of changes to the classroom can be applied to other schools, and she hopes others can start to take notes.
“A lot of the things that we do here, it's not like rocket science,” she said. “It's just changing maybe a few things in your classroom that can really help students be able to learn and be able to regulate, so I hope one day we can be a model for that, and continue to help the students that we have here.”
